Background

Peggy Poole recently retired as vice president of the Tea Division for Bigelow Tea Company, based in Fairfield, Connecticut. Bigelow Tea is the market leader in the Specialty Tea category, and she was responsible for R&D, quality, and tea/ingredient procurement. 

Peggy has more than 40 years of experience in the food industry at companies that include Leprino Foods, HP Hood LLC, Kraft Foods, and Häagen-Dazs. She has held leadership positions in research and development, technical/regulatory affairs, and quality assurance and has been responsible for leading both quality and R&D initiatives, resulting in the introduction of numerous new products such as Simply Smart milks; Peak Treasures Premium Ice Creams; Carb Countdown dairy beverages, yogurts, smoothies, and juice beverages; Oscar Mayer’s “Hotwiches”; and Häagen-Dazs’ Vanilla Milk Chocolate Almond Ice Cream Bar and Deep Chocolate Peanut Butter pints.

Peggy serves as a member of the external advisory boards for Rutgers University and the University of Massachusetts Department of Food Science. She has also served on the Penn State Creamery Advisory Board. She was an active member of the Biosecurity Task Force for the International Dairy Foods Association and was a founding member of the Food Safety Operating Committee at the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, where she also served as a subject matter expert for the center’s Dairy Plant Food Safety Workshops.

IFT Highlights

Peggy has been a member of IFT for 45 years. She most recently completed a three-year term on the IFT Board of Directors and has now begun her three-year presidency term. She has served on the Chief Research Officers Council, as a judge for the IFT Student Association (IFTSA) College Bowl, and as a reviewer for Feeding Tomorrow’s Dr. Elwood F. Caldwell Graduate Fellowship.

Education

BS in chemistry/nutrition from Rutgers University

MS in food science from Rutgers University

PhD in food science/biochemistry from Rutgers University